1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a connector system for a rod-shaped two-ended discharge lamp, in particular a mercury high pressure lamp or a mercury medium pressure lamp, with two lamp bases provided at the connector ends of the discharge lamp and two insert sockets for receiving the lamp bases mounted spaced apart from each other in a lamp housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Taking advantage of their emission in the UV-range, mercury high and medium pressure lamps are employed in radiation devices for many applications for influencing surfaces, in particular for environmentally safe hardening or curing of coatings, printing inks and paint. Depending upon soiling and wear, the lamp must be cleaned at intervals or, as the case may be, must be changed out. It is also necessary to remove the lamp for access to other component parts which must be serviced, such as reflectors. Thereby appropriate safety procedures must be met, since such UV-lamps are driven by high voltage and warm up to high temperatures during operation. With conventional connector systems for such lamps the voltage conducting connector cables to the lamp bases are materially joined with the electrode system. The removal of the lamp thus requires a work intensive disconnecting and freeing of the connector cables in the carrier housing under confined conditions. For this reason, it is often the case that essential cleaning operations or a necessary lamp change-out is postponed longer than necessary. In addition to this, there are safety problems due to metal parts which can be contacted, which can be subjected to voltage in the case of an accident during installation of the lamp. Further, it is frequently the case that such open conductor parts must be kept free relative to conductive housing parts by sufficient insulation areas, which leads to a reduced radiation zone for a given housing dimension.